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BUSINESS TO BUSINESS What’s happening in and around
business today.
Keeping up to date with employment issues
and what’s going on in the business world can
be a lengthy activity. We aim to scour the market
and bring to you in the form of this newsletter all up
to date and relevant news stories that my affect your
business one way or another. If you would like more
information on any of the issues featured please contact our head
office on 020 8939 0160 where we will be please to assist you further.
Inside Business to Business
Business Continuity in an Uncertain World
Business continuity and planning is vital for companies large or small, especially
in the world in which we now live. Employers have a responsibility to their staff
for their safety and security. The spotlight section of this news letter takes a
more in- depth look at contingency planning and advises you upon........
Expecting The Unexpected
1 in 5 businesses suffer a major disruption every year; with no recovery plan
there is less chance of survival.
How quickly and painlessly you manage to get back to ‘business as usual’ in the
event of a terrorist attack, fire, flood or any other natural disaster, or any other
major disruption depends on how effectively you apply your own business
continuity action.
Building in business continuity, making it part of the way you run your business,
rather than having to ‘firefight’ any emergency helps you to offer ‘business as
usual’ in the quickest possible time. Planned business continuity management,
so that your staff, customers and suppliers are reassured that you have an
effective policy and practice for managing the unexpected helps
build confidence in your business.
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Hutton Enquiry highlights E-mail risk |
 The role of e-mail evidence in the Hutton
enquiry has highlighted the potential risks of this
casual but persistent form of correspondence.
Sending e-mails is as easy or easier than
telephoning and yet it is as permanent, as a
letter since deleted e-mails
are normally retained on
company servers for
several months.
Companies are retaining
e-mail messages for increasing periods and
these e-mails can contribute to evidence in
court cases. There is a limit to how long
e-mails are likely to be stored. Research
suggests that the average age of the oldest
e-mail that can be retrieved is 10 months and
only a fifth of firms can reliably recover e-mail
that is more than a year old. However, there
are many ways of recovering ‘deleted’ data.
The e-mail may be replicated on several
different servers and segments of the e-mail,
such as times and dates of sending and ’subject’ lines may be retained and pieced
together. The potential for confidential
personal e-mails to be used for
unintended purposes is
recognised by the new
Employment Practices Data
Protection Code. The Code
states that employers should ‘provide a
means by which managers can permanently
delete e-mails from their personal work
stations’. The employer is also required to
ensure that ‘deleted’ information stored on a
server is permanently deleted ‘unless there is
an overriding business need to retain it’ It
would seem that organisations are along way
from achieving these benchmarks.
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The TUC has launched a new
campaign against long hours.
Their ‘Its about time’ campaign
wants people who work very long
hours to call a new TUC
telephone hotline or use a
website to report abuses of
legislation on long hours.
According to a recent TUC poll,
one in four people who signed an
opt out from the working time
regulations were not given a
choice about opting out. And two
out of three people working over
48 hours have not been asked to
sign an opt out. According to the
Labour Force Survey around 4
million people work more than 48
hours a week – 700,000 more
than in 1992 when there was no
long hours protection.
The UK is alone in allowing any
worker to opt out of the Europe
wide 48 hour limit on average
working time. This opt out is due
to be reviewed by the European
Commission later this year. Full
time employees in the UK work
the longest in Europe. The average
for full timers in the UK is 43.5
hours In France it’s 38.2 and in
Germany 39.9 yet both countries
are more productive than the UK.
New analysis of official figures
shows that three out of five
people working over 48 hours a
week would like to work fewer
hours. The TUC’s figures are hard
to believe. DTI research has found
little evidence that employers are
abusing the working time rules
and tribunals have received few
complaints. Interestingly the
number of people working over 48
hours a week has actually fallen
every year since 1999.
Digby Jones of the CBI
commented as follows ‘I find the
TUC’s figures hard to believe. DTI
research has found little evidence
that employers are abusing the
working time rules and tribunals
have received few complaints.
Interestingly the number of
people working over 28 hours a
week has actually fallen every
year since 1999.
‘Removing the opt out to the
working time directive would stop
thousands of people working
overtime and remove a vital
flexibility for employers.What
gives the TUC the right to
interfere with the freedom of
choice of the individual in the
vastly different world of work of
the 21st century.
The trade unions represent 63%
of public sector workers and only
19% in the private sector. They
have no relevance to the everyday
working lives of over 80% of
private sector employees and over
a third in the public sector.
The trade unions should focus
their energies on developing a
modern, flexible, highly
employable workforce and
tackling the real issues of
tomorrow rather than fighting
the battles of yesterday. More
companies are moving good
jobs overseas. They will not
come back to the UK once lost’
One thing is for sure. The debate
is significant in the provision of
security services and Aimita is
watching closely to ensure that
it is ahead in this game.
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The Minimum Wage – what you need to know as an employer |
The minimum wage rate for workers aged 22 or over is £5.35 per hour from October 1st 2006. For workers aged
18-21 inclusive the current rate is £4.45 per hour. For workers aged 16 and 17 the current minimum wage is £3.30.
8 Things You Need to Know
- Employers are required by law to ensure that their workers are
paid at least the national minimum wage.
- The employer will need to keep records sufficient to prove that
they are paying the national minimum wage to their workers.
- Employers may be required by the worker, by an Inland
Revenue Officer, by an employment tribunal or by a civil court
to produce evidence that they have paid the national
minimum wage.
- If an employer fails to produce records to a worker on request,
he may complain to an employment tribunal which can
impose a penalty.
- Where a tribunal or civil court is making a decision on a
minimum wage case, the burden will always be on the
employer to prove that the national minimum wage has
been paid.
- Where an employer has failed to pay the national minimum
wage, he can be required to pay arrears through the issuing of
an enforcement notice.
- If the enforcement notice is not complied with, compliance
officers have the power to issue a penalty notice against the
employer.
- It is a criminal offence to refuse to pay the national minimum
wage, to obstruct compliance officers or not to keep proper
records. Fines for these offences can be up to £5,000.
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 People can and do bear a grudge against all manner of
business and non commercial concerns. Anyone who may
hold a political view, subscribes to a particular set of
beliefs or feels hard done by could be pushed into venting
their anger or disapproval in a negative or even criminal
way.Whilst sending injurious packages through the post
might seem to be unlikely as it is extreme, it is in fact not
so rare an occurrence.
Constructing a malicious package is not rocket science. It
can require an irresponsible person to do little more than tape razor blades to the inside lip of
an envelope, putt a blood filled syringe inside a package along with a message stating that the
blood is contaminated, and you can even download information from the internet on how to
make a letter bomb. What the above goes to show is that the perpetrators of these sorts of
crimes are not necessarily a part of a highly organized terrorist cell focusing on centres of
commerce, it is just as likely to be an individual with a grievance.
Points worth noting:
- Malicious mail is sometimes wrapped in bright paper so that it
stands out from other mail. Likewise, dangerous items can be
hidden within cigar boxes, cassettes, DVD cases or cardboard
tubes.
- Malicious post is frequently well padded or reinforced with card
to disguise what it contains. This factor is important as a
malicious package often is unevenly weighted. Particular sides or
ends of it may also be excessively taped so the recipient is obliged
to open the package or letter at a point which would trigger a
device or lead to injury.
- A suspect package may contain excessive postage. It is also
likely to be marked ‘private & confidential’ or ‘personal’ or
contain some other message designed to ensure the targeted
person opens the post.
- Another indication is a mis-spelled name or address, which may
mean that the sender has only heard of the target’s name or
company address.
- Also worth treating with suspicion would be any greasy marks
or odd odours, also look out for unfranked post which looks as if
it has not passed through the postal system.
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"To show our
determination
and commitment
to assisting your
business, we are
prepared to
invest in you "
And we want to talk to buyers
who need improvements of this
type in one or more of our
specialist services;
- Cleaners (office/specialist)
- Engineers
- Firemen
- Handymen
- Industrial labour
- Landscape gardeners
- Mail personnel
- Painters
- Receptionists
- Security Guards
Aimita is currently seeking both
acquired and organic growth
Aimita is a specialist contract
service provider in the Print
and Media sector; we are
regarded as a market leader
for the excellence of our
service quality.
- We employ the best people and
train and develop them well.
- We are close to our clients
and we really care about our
service users.
- We use technology to further
enhance our efficiency.
- We offer excellent value for
money.
- We focus on the highest
standards of health and safety.
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The use of mobile telephones whilst driving was banned
from 01 December 2003.
Individuals will be subjected to a fixed fine of £30, or a fine
of up to £1,000 upon conviction. Additionally, 3 penalty
points will be added to the driver’s licence.
The ban applies to drivers using mobile phones as a mode of
communication, also where phones are used to access
information, ie sending or receiving text essages or
accessing the internet.
The Government has stated that it will be seen as an offence
for anyone ‘causing or permitting’ people to use mobile
phones whilst driving.What this means is that employers will
be liable if they expect employees to use mobile phones on
the road. It is worth pointing out that employers will not be
automatically be held liable under the new rules simply by
providing a mobile phone.
In the first instance it may be advisable for employers to
issue employees, who are required to be ‘mobile’ with a‘hands free’ unit. At present the Government will not be
imposing a ban on these units.
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Looking Forward
This year Aimita’s annual golf event was
held at Wentworth in the spring.
The day is always a success with
some really good golf being enjoyed.
It comprises breakfast, lunch and
an evening meal, with two rounds
of golf being played in between.
This is always a busy event, early
booking is advisable. For more
information about the event to be
held next year, or to book a place for
yourself or your team please contact
Jane White on 020 8939 0160
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One of the most popular books of last year was the offshoot of a tv programme
in which two fashion experts regularly harassed and humiliated the
programme’s participants regarding the clothes they wore.
Although it does make good tv, it would not be advisable for employers to approach their
staff in the same manner as programme presenters Susannah and Trinny, if they felt an
employee was wearing inappropriate clothing at work. A problem that often arises for
employers, especially during the summer as temperatures go up
and clothes tend to come off.
Acas’s helpline recently had a call from an employer who allowed
staff in his wholesale warehouse to wear shorts during the
summer, as the warehouse became hot. However, he would not
allow staff who dealt with customers face to face in the sales
department to do the same. The caller wanted to know ‘what the
law was’ on this issue. Unfortunately for the caller, there is no
simple answer to this question as there are no specific laws on
dress code.
So who decides what is or isn’t appropriate dress clothing for work?
Normally this will be the employer. Factors such as the type of
work that is being carried out, is the employee dealing with
members of the public, and what is normally worn in the
particular industry will come into play.
When looking at the area of conventional dress, however, many employers may have to reasses
their existing dress codes. This follows on from a recent and much publicised decision
by an Employment Tribunal in Manchester that ruled that the Department for Work and
Pensions had discriminated against a male employee for
forcing him to wear a tie. The Tribunal heard that the applicant
was forced to follow a dress code that stipulated male
employees had to wear a collar and tie, while there was no
similar rule in place for female employees. This ruling could see
a rise in similar cases as men and women lodge claims
challenging what some might see as stereotypical assumptions
about what each sex should wear.
Speaking to an employee about their appearance should
always be done tactfully and in private. Employers should not
take the tv presenter approach of public humiliation, this could
be seen as grounds for a case of constructive dismissal.
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 Nearly three quarters of
office workers would like
to be able to have a 30
minute ‘power nap’ at
work, believing it will
boost their productivity
and reduce their stress
levels, according to
recent research.
A survey by Firefly, a
communications
consultancy, suggests
that workers feel that ‘power naps’ would be a more productive way of improving
performance, rather than their usual methods of taking a break such as making
personal phone calls (54%) or Internet shopping (54%).
This supports some recent research from Harvard which suggests that nodding off in
the office for an hour can boost learning and memory and is as beneficial as a good
night’s sleep.
According to the Firefly survey, office workers favour power naps (22%) above many
more traditional perks such as private health insurance (16%) luncheon vouchers
(18%) and a car parking space (11%). Employees who cited tiredness and stress as
having the most negative effect on their work in the last six months are also willing
to give up time spent on smoking breaks and personal phone calls to fit in a power
nap during the day.
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